hi all
I am studying product design in nz and we have been given a brief as follows. design a new opening tool for screw cap wine bottles, that has flair and all the things that the old corkscrew that we know and love has exemplified over the last 100 years or so.

So i would like to know how you feel about the change in the world of wine and what traditions you would like to hang around. any ideas would be great.

i am trying to keep as much of the tradition and culture invloved whilst moving on with the new technology, as they say the only thing constant is change.
any way thanks and happy thinking
ps matakana pinot gris has got to be my favorite wine yet allthough some may say my palate is still young at 28
Dan

How does an extravagant flourish with your left hand meet the criteria?

I think that having a tool to open a screw cap is a bit OTT. I have only ever had one screw cap that I could not open as it was designed to open.

As for 'tradition', the cork screw was invented as a matter of necessity to help remove a cork fitted flush with the top of the bottle. If all corks had been designed the same way as champagne corks, then the cork screw would probably not been invented.

There are some 'traditionalist' here who will probably disagree with me...

Cheers,
Neil Courtney

'Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it.' --- Anonymous.

I'm trying to imagine what possible instrument could be used to open a cap that is presently opened by turning (screwing) it with one hand.

Maybe the screw caps should not be turned at all--maybe they should be like the old bottle caps that required a "church key" to pop them open. It's not as mush of a flourish as a corkscrew provides, and it isn't even much of a pop, but it is an instrument that requires some dexterity, minimal though it be, and, I suppose, a little pomp.

As some of the other responses have indicated, this is a rather strange assignment because, after all, one of the great arguments in favor of the screw cap (other than the obvious, that it does not impart cork taint) is that it does not <i>require</i> a special tool to open it. The idea of coming up with a new tool seems not only a bit wrong-headed but also perhaps likely to inspire cynicism in the marketplace as, once again, the marketing industry comes up with a tool for which there is no need, then seeks to persuade us to buy it.

It should also be noted that in Australia, at least, sommeliers are already coming up with stylish ways to open and present screwcaps with a bit of flair and panache ... I've seen them open the bottle with a rather exaggerated flourish (hold cap in one hand, gently rotate the bottle under it with the other, breaking the seal with an audible, satisfying "crack." Then place the loosened cap against one's (presumably tuxedo-clad) sleeve and roll it down toward the hand, timing the roll in such a way that the cap comes off just as the bottle is rolled into your palm. Easier to do than to describe ... give it a try!

Now, if your professor is not the sort to accept our constructive criticism ("Bad idea, prof!"), then I suggest you think along the lines of re-inventing a simple pair of pliers in a more upscale form. Lightweight, sized to fit a wine-bottle neck, perhaps with bone or mother-of-pearl handles, and maybe a rubber or neoprene liner in the jaws.

I have the answer--added to each screw cap is a mid spring connected to the ceiling of the cap. The spring is firm enough to be held in place while the cap is screwed in place, but agile enough to expand as soon as a twisted cap reaches halfway separation from that little ring to which the top is connected to hold it and seal it in place. With enough pressure, the spring could push the cap off the ring and make a sound first as a boing and then one similar to a sigh or one's last breath of air before expiring.

The trick for the person opening the bottle would be to catch the spring action in the nano second between the boing and sigh and when it flies into the atmosphere aiming with its internal gyroscope at the nearest large mouthed (and small minded) wine snob at the table--a college professor maybe...

Daniel Joblin wrote:hi allI am studying product design in nz and we have been given a brief as follows. design a new opening tool for screw cap wine bottles, that has flair and all the things that the old corkscrew that we know and love has exemplified over the last 100 years or so.

So i would like to know how you feel about the change in the world of wine and what traditions you would like to hang around. any ideas would be great.

i am trying to keep as much of the tradition and culture invloved whilst moving on with the new technology, as they say the only thing constant is change. any way thanks and happy thinking ps matakana pinot gris has got to be my favorite wine yet allthough some may say my palate is still young at 28Dan

Dan:

I'll take this project seriously (for now) and respond accordingly:

Believing in design that Form Follows Function, and reasoning that there are only two reasons I can think of for designing something which the already superbly designed hands can already do quite easily, those being 1) improving on the hands function for those who have trouble grasping/squeezing/twisting small objects or 2) appealling to the fanciful and unncessary by coming up with a snazzy looking but entirely superflouous tool that adds a sense of ceremony or ritual to satisfy spurious emotional/romantic needs, lets address the two separately.

First, if you're looking for an improvement on function, a la the "Good Grips" tool design model, then you'd design something that is larger, easier to grip, has some form of padding on the handles, and allows the user to grip the cap and turn more easily. Something along the lines of a basic pair of pliers, or even better, a 'crescent wrench' type of design with only one arm would be sufficient.

If you're going for the second, a la the aesthetically pleasing versions of capsule cutters and such that abound in the wine gimmick world, that's an entirely different design function. Then you're looking for silver, or brass, or brushed aluminum, something that's actually designed to look elegant more than function well. In that case I'd go with a simple, elegant 'sleeve' with a soft gripping surface inside that can be placed over the "cork-free closure" and deftly twisted to break the seal in one economical movement. Which would simultaneously bring attention to the new ritual while actually downplaying the opening of the cap itself. Come to think of it, if you're doing this, you should come out with all three: a brushed aluminum for the modernists, brass for those who like sturdier designs, and silver for those who like the more elegant and 'precious metals' look, and charge significantly more as you go up the scale.

In any case, for the first design, charge little. For the second design, charge greatly, for it is more about affectation than practicality.

And even though the entire idea is rather ridiculous, you'd probably find buyers for it. People being what they are.

Daniel Joblin wrote:hi allI am studying product design in nz and we have been given a brief as follows. design a new opening tool for screw cap wine bottles, that has flair and all the things that the old corkscrew that we know and love has exemplified over the last 100 years or so.

A number of people have already tried to open screw cap closed wines with traditional corkscrews, with varying degrees of success.

I personally don't love corkscrews - they are a necessary evil - and I look forward to the day when most wines are closed with a screwcap.

Winelovers are suckers for pointless gadgets, and a tool to open screwcaps is about the most useless pointless tool I can think of. And even so you will not be the first, it has already been done and there are at least three commercially available -- see thisand this and this

The only exception to pointlessness would be a tool for people with arthritis or otherwise unable to grip, but since screwcaps are in wide use for items other than wine I would suggest such tools are already available.

Did your tutor give you this task on the first day of last month, by any chance?

My inclination would be to design the largest most complicated machine with lots of pulleys, wires, chains, ratchets, handles, dials, flashing lights etc -- a 'Heath Robinson' device -- and have some fun and show up the nonsense of it.

as most have said, it is primarily a pointless exercise, and i did happen to have a lengthy discussion with a friend last night about the perfectness of the hand for the job. If i put aside any moral dillemas about bringing into the world more garbage then the task becomes easier.
What i have been thinking is a 3" flat piece of metal with a semi circle cut out of the side of one end, at the other end a nice "cork" handle mounted at 80 Degrees to the metal, the cut out is then place around the cap by the waiter and by putting pressure in a downward motion locks the cap into the grip of the device. its then a simple 1& 1\2 turns anti clock wise on the cork handle and the cap is off.

At this stage i have no interest in making more than one of these as i have to explore many ideas to cover the content of the brief.

Peter May wrote:The only exception to pointlessness would be a tool for people with arthritis or otherwise unable to grip, but since screwcaps are in wide use for items other than wine I would suggest such tools are already available.

As Peter and Hoke say, this would be a good tool for those with weak or painful hands. In our kitchen drawer is a plastic device with a rubber grommet of about 2cm in diameter and a spiral designed handle that will allow it to open anything from a large jar top to a screw cap. It is called a Magitwist http://www.culinare.com/products/detail.asp?category_ID=1&index=6.

It does not get a lot of use.

Cheers,
Neil Courtney

'Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it.' --- Anonymous.

Robin Garr wrote:It should also be noted that in Australia, at least, sommeliers are already coming up with stylish ways to open and present screwcaps with a bit of flair and panache ... I've seen them open the bottle with a rather exaggerated flourish (hold cap in one hand, gently rotate the bottle under it with the other, breaking the seal with an audible, satisfying "crack." Then place the loosened cap against one's (presumably tuxedo-clad) sleeve and roll it down toward the hand, timing the roll in such a way that the cap comes off just as the bottle is rolled into your palm. Easier to do than to describe ... give it a try!

Ah Robin, that stylish technique was, I'm sure, the result of Kiwi ingenuity, then adopted by savvy Aussie sommeliers. So while I'm not saying that the Aussies are claiming this technique to be their own, it should be noted that Villa Maria put out a video in the early days of the screwcap revival - when they went to 100% screwcap for still wines - on 'How to open your screwcap bottled with flair and panache'. (Actually I don't know what the title was, I just made that up.) But you get the gist.

Sue Courtney wrote:Ah Robin, that stylish technique was, I'm sure, the result of Kiwi ingenuity, then adopted by savvy Aussie sommeliers. So while I'm not saying that the Aussies are claiming this technique to be their own, it should be noted that Villa Maria put out a video in the early days of the screwcap revival

Well, isn't that interesting! I was indeed told of this on the West Island, Sue. I will correct the record in further writings. In fact, I might just feature this topic in today's Wine Advisor ...

Beware the sneaky tutor that sets a topic that gets you to lose sight of the skills you're meant to be using. In searching for a solution to the question, always remember to identify the issues and stumbling blocks en-route. AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO SAY YOU DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS A SUITABLE PRODUCT (and why you believe this).

Some points to reflect on, some that have come out already
- Corks are a pain. As well as the hassle including crumbling corks, there's faults such as cork failure, cork taint and plain old random variation. Probably also a few cork related admissions to accident and emergency departments every year.

- Screwcaps are as yet inconclusively proven (but I've seen enough already to believe they're an improvement on cork). However are screwcaps the final solution? Probably not, so beware of investing in a fancy tool that's out of date in 3 years.

- Part of the beauty of screwcaps is that they don't obviously need a tool to open them. To even think of a sensible tool, you need to know what are the problems in opening them. To my mind there is a technique to opening screwcaps where you come to understand that it feels like the seal is stiff and the main body of the seal is spinning freely, when it actually hits a point where the mechanism connects and the seal breaks (at least this is my experience). Thus a device that reflected this technique might be successful - but this to me would be sales and marketing at it's worst, where a simple technique could be used instead.

- Try and find any information on screwcap mechanical faults - though bear in mind the design and processes are being refined which means your tool may be obsolete by the time it's produced.

- Think laterally. Wines traditionally were stored on their sides to ensure the cork remained moist. With screwcaps they can be stored upright or at any angle. Designing upright storage for screwcap wines could offer real innovation (for starters how about storage where only the label and capsule were visible, with the rest of the bottle hidden - light harms wine, so this is both practical and striking).

As I said before, keep your wits about you and don't go seeking a solution to a problem that doesn't exist!

Ian Sutton wrote:- Screwcaps are as yet inconclusively proven (but I've seen enough already to believe they're an improvement on cork). However are screwcaps the final solution? Probably not, so beware of investing in a fancy tool that's out of date in 3 years.

Ian, screwcapped wines have been standing the test of time for 30+ years in Australia. The Mercurey that convinced Michel Laroche use screwcaps for his Chablis bottlings, an experimental screwcap bottling from the Université de Dijon, was a 1966 vintage. Peter Gago of Penfold's has successful tests running for over a deacde. Telling that scerwcaps are "inconclusively proven" simply isn't true.

I'll jump in to say I concur with those who suggest a sort of pliers-grip tool if more leverage is needed to open a screw cap. Like others here I have something like that for use in the kitchen to open stubborn bottle or jar tops. These don't tend to be fancy, they're just functional, and they'd serve the purpose. I suppose they could be dolled up with faux mother of pearl or other decoration if intended just for a wine bottle screw cap (heaven forfend they'd be used for a plebian beer cap! <g>).

Michael
Whilst I'd like to agree with you (as I said, I'm a fan), if this were true, every half decent new release wine would currently be bottled under screwcap. That it's not is for a few reasons
1. Many of the studies are in some way faulty (e.g. tested on a version of screwcap no longer used, measuring technique (e.g. recent oxygen ingression study) is flawed. Sometimes cork has come out on top, but maybe because it's advanced the wine? There are virtually no true comparitive bottlings with which to compare cork to screwcap, where the same wine was bottled in the same way, with only the seal being different (there are many more working their way through). Sadly saying a particular wine aged well under screwcap doesn't make the argument that it would have been better than under cork, and would be so for all styles of wine (most early screwcaps were Yalumba's rieslings I believe).
2. Pig-headedness on both sides of the debate reduce it into a shooting match, rather than a scientific or at least intellectual investigation
3. Other issues (e.g. reduction) cloud the issue.

Ian, afaik Peter Gago's bottlings are the same under cork and screwcaps, and he now has 11 and 12 years of experience to prove it. I saw him at Vinexpo 2003 at 2005. While three years ago he said everything was fine, but he was still reluctant using them for reds for fear that PVDC might not stay inert with polyphenols in the long run, he completely changed his mind two years later, presenting the first top reds (same price as Grange: Bin 60A and Block 42) from the 2004 vintage under screwcaps. He also opened a bottle of Grange — irony of destiny: TCA ...

As to reduction, I have yet to meet a producer here in Austria who reported problems. Apparently our winemaking is too good for these problems to arise!
Over here screwcaps are gaining ground fast, we are certainly the worldwide number four after NZ, AU and Switzerland.

I'm rather tired of hearing these "inconclusive studies" arguments about screw caps. We do know that corks ruin an unacceptably high percentage of wine almost instantly. I would rather drink an immature but whole wine than a perfectly aged bottle ruined by cork.

I think the debate about long term studies will rage on until every single "great" wine has been individually tested. Such is the way of this debate. If someone tests Mouton for 30 years, someone else will say that it wasn't Latour.

There behind the glass lies a real blade of grass. Be careful as you pass. Move along. Move along.

David M. Bueker wrote:I'm rather tired of hearing these "inconclusive studies" arguments about screw caps.

So am I - I just would like to have my judgement in preferring screwcaps backed up by better scientific analysis. One analysis won't resolve the argument, but a succession will. How about Andrew Sutherland Smith of Warrabilla trying his wines under cork and screwcap - he preferred the screwcap for the 1st couple of years and then the cork sealed version up to years 4 and 5. Does this prove cork is better? No, but we have to look at all evidence, not just those that support our views (unless we're lawyers, but they're a different species ). Science requires more rigour before something is proved. In the meantime, if people have seen enough evidence for themselves (one way or the other) then they should buy based on that opinion (even to the point of shunning a favourite wine). If you're satisfied (and it sounds like you are), do you only buy screwcapped wine?

I'll finish with another study.

A mathematician, a physicist and an engineer were asked to prove (or disprove) the theory that all odd numbers are prime numbers.

The mathematician said "1, 3, 5 and 7 are prime numbers, however 9 isn't. Therefore the theory is false"

The Physicist said "1, 3, 5 and 7 are prime numbers, 9 isn't (damn, must have been an experimental error), 11 is, therefore all odd numbers are prime"

I'll just go back to my main issue with cork, and that is that it can (and frequently will) ruin wines. Sure they may age better, or at least differently, under cork than screw cap, and some people may like one closure over another. Personal taste has nothing to do with this. If personal preference mattered, Al Gore would be president.

If I buy a wine in screw cap I know I can at least enjoy it at some point in its life. If I buy a wine in cork, I may get to enjoy it.

There behind the glass lies a real blade of grass. Be careful as you pass. Move along. Move along.

Daniel,
It's interesting how this topic has gone off topic into that old debate, the cork vs the screwcap.
Now back to your problem ..... Ian Sutton mentioned the design of the screwcap, and that some designs of screwcaps are no longer used. This is something to take into account as the screwcap evolves. If you look at the Stoneleigh wines, e.g. Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc 2005, you will notice the screwcap that is quite different in appearance to what has become the standard, in that the Stoneleigh screwcap has a capsule-like appearance with no grooves and ridges on the outside of the screwcap. I think it is called the Stelvin Lux. There's a pic on http://www.stoneleigh.co.nz/wines.html.
Then look at the Vidal wine range. They have a red plastic cover over the screwcap - so that has to be removed as well. Should your screwcap opener cater for removing this too? Perhaps it should. By the way, the additional cover helps to assure me that the bottle of wine has probably not been tampered with. And in case you are wondering how the bottle could be tampered with, well I've had several bottles where the screwcap's cap and skirt has come off in one piece. They have obviously been screwed too loosely.
However some screwcaps are screwed far too tightly and I've had experiences where I cannot open the bottle, so the 'magitwist' jar opener that Neil mentioned (available in kitchen shops) would probably need to be used by me at times if Neil wasn't around to come to my rescue. Shingle Peak fits into this category. It could be that their capper machine is screwing the caps too tightly - the opposite of the problem where caps come off in one piece.
Hope this helps for you to design something that fits all types of screwcaps.
Cheers,
Sue

Last edited by Sue Courtney on Mon May 08, 2006 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

David M. Bueker wrote:I'll just go back to my main issue with cork, and that is that it can (and frequently will) ruin wines. Sure they may age better, or at least differently, under cork than screw cap, and some people may like one closure over another.

I agree. Cork is flawed and with anywhere between a 1% to 10% failure rate (depending mainly on tolerance to low levels of taint), it's bad quality control... and it's been bad for years, during which time the cork producers couldn't be bothered to solve the problem. One of my reasons for preferring screwcaps, is that you feel like the cork producers have screwed the rest of us for years, so maybe it's our turn to screw them. Apologies for the puns!